The Four Freshmen - It's A Blue World: Their 30 Finest 1951-1960

In terms of the record history of vocal groups, the 50s belong to The Four Freshmen. Described as “the most innovative and imitated jazz vocal quartet ever to grace vinyl”, they were voted as Down Beat’s Best Vocal Group of the Year for 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1958. This young Stan Kenton-inspired quartet created a sensation with their unusually free, almost improvisatory approach to modernistic vocal harmony. Retrospective’s It’s A Blue World presents their 30 finest tracks, covering their heyday from 1951 to 1960. Emphasis is given to their ground-breaking mid-50s albums, which blended their unique vocal sound with the different instrumental colourings of 5 trombones, 5 trumpets, 5 saxes and 5 guitars, each featuring a number of top jazz instrumentalists (Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Bud Shank, Frank Rosolino etc.), and arrangers such as Pete Rugolo. Half a century or more on it all still sounds vibrant and new.